Honourable Speaker,

South Africa is in the grip of a crisis — a crisis of unemployment, poverty, inequality, and violent crime.

Unemployment stands at a staggering 43.1%, with over 300,000 jobs lost in the first quarter of this year alone.

Poverty continues to tighten its grip, with nearly half of all households going to bed hungry tonight.

Inequality remains entrenched where South Africa has one of the highest Gini coefficients in the world, reflecting obscene levels of income and wealth disparity.

Crime is out of control. We are one of the most dangerous countries in the world, with 63 murders recorded every single day.

Speaker, there is only one proven way to turn these numbers around and restore dignity to the lives of South Africans, and that is through sustained economic growth of at least 3 to 4%.

Yet under the Government of National Dis-Unity, economic growth continues to stagnate. The economy limped along at just 0.1% in the first quarter, and the Financial and Fiscal Commission warns of a possible recession with a lower-bound forecast of -1.6% growth over the medium term.

Given this dire context, one would expect an Appropriation Bill that is laser-focused on driving industrial development, infrastructure expansion, and entrepreneurship. 

Instead, what we have before us is a budget that allocates crumbs to the very departments tasked with igniting economic growth.

Speaker, economic growth will not be achieved by empty speeches and unity charades. Growth requires bold, pragmatic, and implementable reforms. And budget allocations must reflect that. This Bill does not: It lacks vision, coherence, and urgency.

And let’s be clear: the problem is not that there isn’t enough money to grow this economy. The problem is that too much of our public money is lost to corruption, cadre deployment, bloated bureaucracy, and egos.

Let me give just one example: the SETAs, which were meant to drive skills development. Instead, many have become cesspools of corruption and cadre deployment, with little to no accountability for the billions they absorb. Shockingly, the budget allocation for the SETAs alone is the equivalent of whole departmental budgets for Trade and Industry, Public Works, Small Business Development, and Tourism — departments that should be powering economic growth.

Another example is the luxury lifestyle of the bloated GNU Cabinet. We now have more ministers, travelling more frequently, in greater luxury, with larger entourages. This, too, is a form of corruption: the systemic abuse of taxpayer funds in full view of the public.

Speaker, there is enough money to run this country and to run it well. But there is not enough money to run a bloated Cabinet and feed the voracious greed of ANC comrades pillaging SOEs, SETAs, the Road Accident Fund, and every tender in sight.

To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi: “South Africa has enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed.”

Speaker, in conclusion, ActionSA will continue to play a constructive and pragmatic role in this House. We will support the departmental budgets that move our country forward. And we will reject those that do not. 

Our decisions are based on principle and rationality, not on political expediency or manufactured brinkmanship.